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Today Is Good!

From refugee camps in Sicily, an astonishing array of new African voices and music. The stirring songs of a Malian griot, the thrilling energy of a Gambian rapper and hot Nigerian tracks from reggae to Afrobeat. All income goes to the singer-songwriters.

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Today is Good! is a song and a project, the encounter between young asylum-seekers in Sicily and two European musicians who went to meet them. The name came from Obaydul Kader, who called out ‘Today is good!’ in a group improvisation, and then explained: We are singing! Starting in Summer 2017, we made weekly visits to Casa Freedom, a reception centre for unaccompanied minors near the town of Priolo on the east coast between Catania and Siracusa. We usually began by singing and then playing music while wandering around the centre. As a regular group formed, the boys started presenting songs they had written themselves. It happened explosively sometimes, and an otherwise hidden world erupted in front of us, with dancing, rapping, singing and shouting in multiple languages – Bambara, English, French, Wolof… we felt invited into the lives of these young people, privileged to share the emotions and thoughts that they expressed. We recorded and produced this selection of their songs at Casa Freedom and at our home in Siracusa, using the basic resources we had to hand - voices, guitars, saxophones. We hope it offers a sense of the creative strength this generation is bringing to Europe, and the wonderful potential for collaboration.

Produced by Rachel Beckles Willson and Francesco Iannuzzelli for Arts against Slavery.

Arts against Slavery is a new charity supporting the changing population of Europe by developing a creatively different vision for the continent. Today is Good! is its first project.A yet-to-be-told story is that many young people landing on the shores of Europe have been brought there by international slavery networks. On arrival they are confronted with brutal prejudices, as well as further exploitation and new forms of slavery. By harnessing the power of the arts – giving people voices, fostering friendship, transforming narratives and building networks – Arts against Slavery aims to develop a new conversation about social responsibility, dignity, education, and the joy of creative transformation.

We moved from London to Siracusa in Spring 2017 because it felt important to engage with the unaccompanied young people arriving on the coast of Europe. We gave our skills – as volunteer musicians, educators and even legal guardians – moving against the commercialisation of contemporary life, and with an eye to the global inequalities produced by capitalism.The young people we befriended have allowed us chilling insight into their ongoing hardships, but have also given us huge pleasure in creative collaboration.In Summer 2018, experiencing an increasingly xenophobic climate in Europe, it seems more important than ever to foster these encounters and collaborations, and to work out how they might be a force of resistance. This sample CD is just a beginning. Please follow us and join us!